Rising taxes, declining sales hit St. Jude Medical's bottom line

St. Jude Medical reported a dip in earnings due to rising income taxes and declining sales of implantable cardioverter defibrillators, pacemakers and some cardiovascular products.

The St. Paul, Minn.-based devicemaker reported earnings of $215 million for the three months ended October 3, down 9.7% from last year's third quarter. Sales were $1.3 billion, down 2% from the same period last year.

Income taxes cost the company $46 million, at a 17.6% effective tax rate, which is over two-and-a-half times more what the company paid during last year's third quarter.

St. Jude reported increasing sales of its atrial fibrillation and neuromodulation products, up 7% and 13% respectively, but declining sales in the cardiac rhythm management segment contributed to decreased revenue. Implantable cardioverter defibrillator sales fell 7%, while pacemaker sales were down 10%.

Cardiovascular sales were also down slightly, by 2%, at $317 million, despite positive sales growth in structural heart and vascular products, which make up most of the segment.

Nine-month earnings were $767 million, up 1.3% during the same period the prior year. Net sales, year to date, were $4.1 billion, down 2% from the prior year.